A method of the generic type and an apparatus of the generic type are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,792. In this case, printed products are conveyed in an overlapping formation, in which the products cover one another entirely or partially as viewed in the conveying direction. In the case of partial overlap, the trailing edges of the products cover the respective trailing product. In order to be picked up by a gripper conveyor, the products are conveyed with their edges against a stop and the respective topmost printed product present at the stop is at least partly curved upward or raised off the printed product lying underneath or the conveying device by using a curving device. As a result, the preconditions are created in which the grippers, whose physical position relative to the pulling member cannot be changed, can grip the printed products individually and convey them away. The disadvantage here is the relatively high expenditure on construction, the mechanical loading of the products and the lack of flexibility of the known apparatus. For example, it is not possible to transfer a plurality of products in a controlled manner to a single gripper.
These disadvantages are also possessed by other methods known from the prior art, for example in Canada Patent No. 2,309,239. These include, as an additional step, the formation of an intermediate stack, which is broken down by the products being raised individually off the intermediate stack by a separating element, for example a sucker, and being transferred to grippers whose orientation cannot be changed, belonging to an outward conveyor.